Bludit is a Simple Free Open Source CMS Alternative to WordPress and Joomla

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I have been looking since 2014 for a content management system that is search engine friendly, user friendly and simpler than Joomla or WordPress and I think I have finally found it!

Bludit Open Source Content Management System

The Bludit content management system is a free and open source flat file content management system which is easy to install and use and suitable for simpler websites.

Bludit includes all the basic features you would expect in a content management system such as pages and posts, categories, tags, comments, a WYSIWYG editor, hit counter, navigation, social networking links, search and sitemap.

More advanced features such as contact forms, galleries, popups, basic e-commerce, WordPress importer, RSS feed, embedding a Google Map and embedding a YouTube video are available via the Bludit official plugin repository which currently lists over 100 plugins. Most plugins are free and paid plugins are very affordable.

There are over 50 free themes in the Bludit official theme repository with more free and paid themes available from third parties.

Performance will depend on which theme is used but Bludit websites have low overheads and load very quickly.

The first website I built for a client uses the free "Easy Blog" theme which loads Bootstrap, jQuery, Font Awesome and 2 Google fonts. It still scores an "A" on GTMetrix with 100% on performance and 99% on structure and loads in about half a second (see below). This is out of the box on a budget web hosting plan with no tinkering required!

The disk space footprint for a default install of Bludit is only 7.1 MB which is tiny compared to a default install of Joomla 4.2.5 which uses 87.2 MB or a default install of WordPress 6.1.1 which uses 66.5 MB.

Support is available on the Bludit support forums.

GTMetrix Score for Friends of Ecovillage website - November 2022

Upgrade or Migrate to Joomla 4.x!

Joomla 4.x was released on 17th August 2021 followed by a security update and several bug fixes.

New Joomla 4.x Features

Some of the new features included in Joomla 4.x are:

  • improved install process
  • new accessible backend and frontend templates
  • Bootstrap 5 integration
  • new media manager
  • new publishing workflow
  • new web services
  • improved security features
  • new HTML email templates
  • improved and expanded Command Line Interface (CLI)
  • cleaner and more powerful codebase

It's Safe to Migrate or Upgrade to Joomla 4.x Now

Assuming all your favourite extensions are Joomla 4.x ready, now is a good time to upgrade from Joomla 3.x.

I have already updated my business website to Joomla 4.x and have completed some Joomla 3.x to Joomla 4.x updates for clients.

Using a template with Joomla 3.x and Joomla 4.x versions (such as JoomShaper Helix Ultimate) simplifies the update process considerably.

Joomla 4.x Performance

As per, "The new metrics for web performance" article by Patrick Jackson, Joomla 4 performs phenominally well. Joomla 4 has been optimised for performance and it scores well in various test tools including Google Lighthouse and GTMetrix.

GTMetrix Score - November 2022

Goodbye Gantry 4

Many of the websites I developed over the last 10 years were built with or were upgraded to the Gantry 4 Framework by RocketTheme. Gantry 4 was a great choice for Joomla 2.5 website owners as Gantry 4 made the transition from Joomla 2.5 to Joomla 3.x easy.

Unfortunately, there will be no Gantry 4 version for Joomla 4 and website owners currently on Gantry 4 will need to upgrade to Gantry 5 or choose a new template.

Gantry 5 is quite different to Gantry 4 and my current preference is to build websites with and to migrate websites to the JoomShaper Helix Ultimate template and framework. Helix Ultimate has all the great features that Gantry 4 has plus much more, such as multiple Google Fonts, more control over styling and layout and more control over inserting custom code. The default Helix Ultimate template is free. JoomShaper have a large user base which hopefully means that Helix Ultimate will continue to be developed and supported for a long time into the future.

Joomla 3.x Support

Joomla 3.x will be supported for two years after the Joomla 4.x release so Joomla 3.x website owners should plan to update to Joomla 4.x by August 2023. This gives Joomla website owners plenty of time. Joomla 3.x websites will, of course, still operate after August 2023 but may be more vulnerable to hackers.

Extension and Template Support for Joomla 4.x

Joomla extension and template developers are now starting to focus on the Joomla 4 versions of their extensions and templates. The Joomla 3 versions will still be supported for a while but new functionality might only be implemented in the Joomla 4 versions of their extensions and templates. This is already happening with at least one extension, Regular Labs Articles Anywhere, where the developer has taken the opportunity to rewrite the Joomla 4 versions of his extensions with many new features which will not be added to the Joomla 3 versions.

Happy updating / migrating!

Migrate My Joomla Website

Migrate from Joomla 1.5 to Joomla 3.x

The cost of migrating from Joomla 1.5 to Joomla 3.x depends on the number of third party extensions and whether there are Joomla 3.x equivalents, whether there is an equivalent Joomla 3.x template and other factors. A straightforward Joomla 1.5 to Joomla 3.x migration typically takes at least five hours and costs from around $450.

Contact me for a quote.

Migrate from Joomla 2.5 to Joomla 3.x

The cost of migrating from Joomla 2.5 to Joomla 3.x depends on the number of third party extensions and whether there are Joomla 3.x equivalents, whether there is an equivalent Joomla 3.x template and other factors. A straightforward Joomla 2.5 to Joomla 3.x migration migration typically takes at least three hours and costs from around $250.

Contact me for a quote.

Migrate from Joomla 3.x to Joomla 4.x

The cost of migrating from Joomla 3.x to Joomla 4.x depends on the number of third party extensions and whether there are Joomla 3.x equivalents, whether there is an equivalent Joomla 4.x template and other factors. A straightforward Joomla 3.x to Joomla 4.x migration migration typically takes at least three hours and costs from around $250.

Contact me for a quote.

Tasmanian Government Tourism Industry Market Support Program

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As part of an economic stimulus programme in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism related businesses in Tasmania such as visitor attractions, accommodation providers and tour operators may be eligible for the latest grant via the Tourism Industry Market Support Program.

There are two grants available:

  1. up to $1000 as a one off marketing support grant
  2. up to $2500 available on a dollar for dollar matched basis as a one off marketing support grant

The grants support one or more of the following marketing activities:

  • Brochure and or website inclusion
  • Online travel agent or wholesaler program
  • Print advertising

It seems like the grants could be used to revamp your current website in preparation for the borders re-opening.

The application process is fairly straightforward but you'll need a quote from your web provider so please let me know if I can help.

For more details including the full eligibility requirements, go to: https://www.business.tas.gov.au/covid-19_business_support_packages/tourism_industry_market_support_program

Note that grants are assessed on a first submitted, first assessed basis, until the program closes on 30th October 2020 or funding is exhausted whichever occurs first.

Joomla On-site SEO in 7 Easy Steps

To complete on-site search engine optimisation adequately on a Joomla website, the following items need to be set up:

  1. search engine friendly urls
  2. a global meta description
  3. a suitable robots.txt file
  4. a unique page title for each page
  5. a unique H1 heading for each page
  6. a unique meta description for each page
  7. a sitemap submitted to Google Search Console

Fortunately, Joomla can do all of the essential steps (1 to 6 below) out of the box without the need for any third party extensions.

1. Search Engine Friendly URLs

Using the File Manager in cPanel or an FTP client or similar, rename the htaccess.txt file in the root folder of the website to .htaccess.

Joomla SEO Settings Log in to the back-end of the Joomla website with an administrator account and go to System → Global Configuration → Site.

Configure the SEO Settings as follows:

  • Search Engine Friendly URLs = Yes
  • Use URL Rewriting = Yes
  • Add Suffix to URL = No
  • Unicode Aliases = No (usually)
  • Site Name in Page Titles = No

2. Global Meta Description

Log in to the back-end of the Joomla website with an administrator account and go to System → Global Configuration → Site.

Add a Site Meta Description.

The Site Meta Description is included on pages where no meta description is found for the article, category or menu item.

I don't usually worry about Meta Keywords any more as these are ignored by Google.

Global Meta Description for Joomla SEO Settings

3. robots.txt

The default robots.txt file in Joomla does not allow access for search engines to all the required CSS and JavaScript files. Google (for example) needs access to CSS and JavaScript files to check whether the website works well responsively or not.

I recommend the following customised robots.txt file for Joomla 3.x websites:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /administrator/
Disallow: /bin/
Disallow: /cache/
Disallow: /cli/
Allow: /components/*.css
Allow: /components/*.js
Disallow: /components/
Allow: /includes/*.css
Allow: /includes/*.js
Disallow: /includes/
Disallow: /installation/
Disallow: /language/
Allow: /layouts/*.css
Allow: /layouts/*.js
Disallow: /layouts/
Allow: /libraries/*.css
Allow: /libraries/*.js
Disallow: /libraries/
Disallow: /logs/
Allow: /modules/*.css
Allow: /modules/*.js
Disallow: /modules/
Allow: /plugins/*.css
Allow: /plugins/*.js
Disallow: /plugins/
Disallow: /tmp/

The robots.txt file is located in the root folder of the website and can be updated via the File Manager in cPanel or an FTP client or similar.

4. Page Titles

Enter a unique page title for each page.

The best practice for page titles is human readable text, up to around 65 characters, on one line, including keywords, branding and localisation with the main keywords first unless the brand is recognisable and in this case the brand should go first.

I tend to enter page titles in the menu option as H1 Headings and Meta Descriptions can also be entered here at the same time.

Page Title Settings for Joomla SEO

5. H1 Headings

Enter a unique H1 Heading for each page. There should be exactly one H1 Heading on each page and this can be supplemented with H2 and H3 headings if needed.

The best practice for H1 Headings is human readable text, 20 to 70 characters, on one line at the start of the article before any H2 or H3 etc headings and with the main keywords first.

I tend to enter H1 Headings in the menu option as Page Titles and Meta Descriptions can also be entered here at the same time. I am assuming that the Joomla Template displays the page heading as a H1 heading but this is template dependent and not always the case.

Note that blog articles don't necessarily have their own menu option and in this case, the H1 Heading can be enabled in the article.

H1 Heading settings for Joomla SEO

6. Meta Descriptions

Enter a unique Meta Description for each page.

The best practice for Meta Descriptions is human readable text, 155 to 160 characters, on one line including keywords, branding and localisation and with the main keywords first.

I tend to enter Meta Descriptions in the menu option as Page Titles and H1 Headings can also be entered here at the same time.

Note that blog articles don't necessarily have their own menu option and in this case, the Meta Description can be entered in the article.

I don't usually worry about Meta Keywords any more as these are ignored by Google.

Meta Description settings for Joomla SEO

7. SiteMap and Google Search Console

Ideally, a Sitemap should be created and submitted to Google Search Console (Webmaster Tools).

This makes it easier for Google to crawl your website and to make sure that all pages are being crawled and indexed.

Google also then has a way to notify you about any problems with the website such as crawl errors.

Creating a Google Search Console account is free and easy to do.